With 2017 being the UK-India Year of Culture, BFI’s ‘India on Film’ brings a series of films from Indian cinema to the UK. All throughout the year, the relationship between the two countries will be celebrated through film. BizAsiaLive.com caught up with Meenakshi Shedde, co-curator of the season, to talk about the ‘New Bollywood’ theme of ‘India on Film’.
How have you prepared for the season in the months up to its commencement?
I am very honoured and delighted to work with the British Film Institute (BFI) as Co-Curator for the India on Film series, curating Indian and South Asian films which are being shown at the BFI Southbank throughout the year. This is part of the UK-India Year of Culture 2017. I work closely with Robin Baker, Head Curator, BFI National Archive. I have been South Asia Consultant to the Berlin Film Festival since 20 years, and also independent curator/consultant to festivals worldwide, including the Toronto, Locarno, Busan, Dubai, India, Mumbai and Kerala film festivals. So throughout my career, I have found joy in helping talented Asian filmmakers get an international platform to shine.
Robin Baker had met me last year in Mumbai, where I live, and asked me to come up with a few ideas for India on Film. Instead, I came up with a complete roadmap for the entire year’s India on Film programming. I conceptualised themes for each month, curated films for each theme, and suggested panelists to invite for discussions. Mr Baker has been wonderful to work with, he has given me an absolutely free hand in curating. So I have curated different seasons, such as Bollywood 2.0, Song and Dance, Women Directors, Partition and Thrillers. I also gave them in advance, a full year’s list of new and forthcoming releases, like Baahubali2-The Conclusion. For the special BFI screening and Q/A with the director SS Rajamouli, star Anushka Shetty, producer Shobu Yarlagadda and music composer MM Keeravani on May 2, we were thrilled to get an electrifying response! In fact, the tickets were sold out right after booking opened, and the BFI got 419K views in a single day, when it went live on facebook with an interview of the Baahubali2 team at the premiere.
Apart from overseeing the entire India On Film, Mr Baker has also been overseeing major projects like the world premiere of restored, silent Indian epic Shiraz, a 1928 Indo-British-German coproduction, on a love story behind the building of the Taj Mahal. Anoushka Shankar has been commissioned to compose music that will be performed as a live accompaniment during the screening on October 14 at the Barbican as part of the BFI London Film Festival. He is also overseeing Around India with a Movie Camera, nearly 300 newly digitised films shot in India between 1899-1947, which will be available for free on BFI Player in August.
How do you decide on which films/theme to showcase for the season, especially with Bollywood moving away from the conventional stories in recent years?
First of all, the India on Film series is about Indian and South Asian films, of which Bollywood is only one part. When curating for India On Film, I wanted to make sure there was a variety of talent, different genres, subjects and languages from various parts of India and South Asia. Above all, Robin’s brief was, there must be a sense of discovery. That is why I curated a rich and diverse mix of films. In Bollywood 2.0, I had what I call “mindie” (mainstream+indie) films. Mainstream like Kapoor&Sons and Queen, which have stars, song and dance, but also deal with realistic, ‘indie issues’ like parental infidelity, homosexuality and feminism. Meanwhile, indie films are also taking on mainstream elements like Masaan, which deals with issues of caste and sexuality, but had wonderful songs by the band Indian Ocean. For the Song and Dance in May, we have a real fun film like Om Shanti Om–which the BFI calls “a singalong film”, an exquisite period film like Bajirao Mastani with superb music, and the great Satyajit Ray with his haunting masterpiece Jalsaghar (The Music Room). There are also two Tamil movies with music composed by double Oscar winner AR Rahman–Mani Ratnam’s Bombay and Rajiv Menon’s Kandukondain Kandukondain (I have found it), an eye-popping Tamil musical version of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, with the title song shot in Scotland, if you please!
Have you seen in terms of audience demands to the type of films that are shown?
The films I am curating are films that I have loved that would like to share with film lovers in London/UK. It is a chance to see a range of exciting Indian and South Asian films the typical audience may never have seen before. It is meant to appeal to a wide range of film lovers– regular BFI members, South Asians, and film buffs in general. Swedes are most welcome! The regular Bollywood stuff is being shown in the usual cinemas anyway, I want to widen and enrich that experience.
Why was there a conscious move away from the classic mainstream films to more content-filled stories?
I haven’t moved anywhere, and all the mainstream films I have curated are strong on content. As I said, the mainstream Bollywood films have their regular theatres in the South Asian community anyway. I wanted to see what happens if I surprise the audiences eg if a regular white BFI member sees Om Shanti Om, or a Pakistani or Bangladeshi sees Mani Ratnam’s Bombay, a love story in Tamil (with English subtitles) set during Mumbai’s communal riots, or a Bajirao Mastani fan sees Ray’s classic Jalsaghar.
What one thing has been prominent when preparing for the season?
For me, above all, this is about Indian and South Asian cinema, and not just Bollywood. India makes films in an amazing 42 languages and dialects, and Bollywood, mainstream cinema in Hindi, is just one of them. So, apart from Bollywood, I have curated films in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi and Urdu, as well as included an Indian documentary, Gulabi Gang, on a rural feminist group that wears pink saris, wields lathis, and demands justice for women. Our South Asian films include Khamosh Pani and Jago Hua Savera from Pakistan and Matir Moina from Bangladesh, and each of them have won awards at top festivals worldwide.
Which films are you most excited about showcasing?
I am excited about showing each of the films I have curated. Of course, the response to Baahubali2-The Conclusion, was a special high. The films I have curated I have seen and loved, but some of the new and forthcoming titles this year, which we are not always able to see in advance because of programming deadlines, are a bit of a gamble. Luckily, our wager on Baahubali2 paid off handsomely. I think the BFI members didn’t know what hit them. But I hope the Baahubali2 fans return to BFI Southbank to see our other films as well. That is the idea.
Why is BFI Southbank a good place for a showcase of ‘New Bollywood’?
The traditional BFI audience gets to see the best of cinema from around the world, so when I curate something from India and South Asia where they are our prime audience, it must meet high standards and be for a very good reason. I don’t think the usual white BFI members see many Bollywood films, or what they have seen hasn’t exactly made them fans. So, I’m showing them Bollywood films, but which are also intelligent, have independent tendencies, closer to world cinema. We’re putting honey out and waiting for Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear to come. We’ve got a whole hive here!
What longer-term effects do you hope to see from the season, if any?
Just this: that at least some film lovers may be amazed at what a rich and diverse cinema India and South Asia have, and that they will be more open to films from these countries in future. They may better able to appreciate what a rich and ancient culture and civilisation South Asia is. Hopefully, their appreciation of the human condition explored in these films will make them understand South Asians with a little more empathy, especially in a time of Brexit. To those who look down on Indian cinema, allow me to share some perspective: In 2016, India made 2,336 features whereas the UK made just 209 features, including the US-studio backed films. In other words, the UK’s film production is barely 8% of India’s annual film production. Maybe there’s a reason India’s film industry is such a powerhouse, it’s worth investigating.
Bollywood is such a big industry offering thousands of releases a year. Do you think this season might ever become a regular occurrence?
Finally, it’s a question of quality not quantity. Yes, I would be delighted if we could continue the Year of India, but maybe in different ways, apart from at the BFI Southbank, through universities and colleges, film clubs and societies, and community outreach programmes. I can’t speak for the BFI though, you’ll have to ask them.
BizAsiaLive.com thanks Meenakshi Shedde for taking the time to talk to us.
